The Lake
Taupo and the City of Taupo
are among the most beautiful landscapes in New Zealand, kind
of "post card" place if you know what I mean. The City and
lake are located just 45 minutes by road from Rotorua, or a
little bit more than 3 hours from Auckland. The city of
Taupo has around 21,000 inhabitants and moves in a wonderful
slow pace. Peace and admiration to the creation of Nature is
the feeling you may have while standing at the margins of
the lake. At the opposite side of the lake, a much
smaller town called Turangi, works as a start up place to
treks and snow ski at Tongariro National Park. In
good days, the air in this area gets so clean that the
sensation one feels is to have X ray vision due the distance
your eyes can see through the terrain.

Taupo
as Rotorua has plenty of volcanic activities located nearby the
town. The Wairakei reserve (photo) is open to public
visitation with many smelly and interesting thermal
activity. Orakei Korako, is another thermal reserve
with different attractions including one of the biggest
silica terraces in the world. One interesting detail about
Taupo, is the fact that the whole North Island was formed
from there, with a giant volcanic eruption officially
classified as "cataclysmic" or the last degree on
geologic scales for volcanic eruptions. Lake Taupo itself is
the largest volcanic "caldera" in new Zealand. The
cold water of lake Taupo still hides thermal manifestations
in the bottom of the lake such as fumaroles or cracks in the
base, that expels vapours and gases. The big eruption we are
talking about happened about 5,000 years ago, but the
specialists say Taupo one day will blow up again. Anyway,
while these thing don't happen (and I hope never will)
we enjoy this place which is absolutely fantastic.

There
is a world of
things to do in Taupo, both in the city or at the lake. In
the city, restaurants offer delicious Trout dishes capable
of making even the best chef cry due the incredible taste.
Hot water spas, Art and Craft shops, Maori artefacts, and
excellent pubs and night clubs guarantee entertainment for
all ages. Accommodation is not a problem either with plenty
of good hotels, resorts, backpackers hostels, bed &
breakfast and motels. The Huka Falls, (photo), is
just 10 KM before Taupo (coming from Rotorua) and can be
visited for free, including well chair access. The volume
and the light blue colour of the water are really
impressive. The river flows in high speed in a narrow canal,
and suddenly drops all the water in a good size waterfall.
If you are ready for emotion, take the Huka Jet which will
take you to a 30 minutes ride on the river finalizing you
some 360º turns right in front of the fall (photo). If you
want something calm, you can go for one of those fantastic
Golf fields they've got there. Another challenging golf
thing, is to try from the margin of the lake to hit the hole
in a floating pontoon. They offer prize money for those who
do the task. Spectacular trekking nearby Taupo lead you to
other waterfalls and beautiful places with native trees.

Lake Taupo,
is not only famous for the Trout fishing but also for the
number or activities you can do in the lake. For example,
you can go in great style to dine out in a cruise around the
lake. If you are in a budget, there are smaller boats that
offer tours or you can rent your own boat and cruise by
yourself. Kayak tours are also offered by many local
operators including one tour that goes to a sacred Maori
place, where sculptures on rocks were made by ancestors.
(photo). If you want to view the lake from the top,
paragliding if offered from the back of a fast boat. If you
are not afraid of cold water, try water ski on the lake.
Another very interesting thing to do is get in the car and
explore the lake margins by road. There some spots and
picnic areas that you can spend moments of absolute tranquillity
with a great view. Sometimes pumice rocks from the latest
Ruapehu eruption can be found floating or on the dry
sand. If the weather is not good there is a very
interesting indoor place called Volcanic Activity
Centre, where you can learn and experiment in a
simulator, earthquakes, tornados, volcano eruptions, and
much more, including a fantastic tutorial about tectonic
plates.

On
the other side of the
lake, the town of Turangi (pop 3500), is a good
base to explore Tongariro
National Park. The town is small with not much to
do, but there are some interesting things that may not pass
in blank. One of these is the National
Trout Centre, where you can see Trouts in a tank and
learn lots of details about Trout's life. Some shops in town
rent snow ski equipment for a better price than on the top
of the mountain. A few Kilometres before arriving in
Turangi, there is a small marina, where we rented a small
boat and motor to go trout fishing in the lake (fishing gear
included). We also had to pay A$ 18 per person for a Trout
fishing license. In average the Trouts in this part of the
lake are around 2 kilos in weight and the best times are
February and March for Rainbow Trout and August/ September
for Brown Trout. We came back empty handed due our lack of
experience in Trout Fishing, but in compensation the views
from the boat were breathtaking. Anyway, to cure
our frustration, we had an spectacular trout dish at a
Turangi restaurant. Above all, it was a great time we had in
Lake Taupo and Taupo city. We recommend any tourist not to
miss it, and spend at least a couple of days there.